How to Do Scapular Stretches

Scapular stretches are very beneficial if completed in the right way. Do scapular stretches the right way with help from one of the leading health and fitness professionals in the state of Utah in this free video clip.

Transcript

Hi, I'm Denise Druce, Director of Yoga Teacher Training Program at The University of Utah. Today, we're going to talk about how to do scapular stretches. So, the scapula are the shoulder blades on the upper back. We're going to start using a chair or even with hands against the wall. So, bringing your hands to the back of your chair and taking your feet a little bit wider, begin to come down and round your back. So, really what we're trying to do here is just stretch the shoulder blades, opening as wide as we can; just winging them wide open. Taking a few deep breaths and then coming back in. And then, we'll take a really wide stance, bending the knees. We'll press one hand inside the knee and push the shoulder toward the opposite knee. So, there's a nice stretch for your shoulders and your lats. And we'll do that on each side, taking several breaths. So, another stretch we can do for the scapula is raising one arm up and then bending the elbow and gently pressing on the back of the arm. So, this stretches the lats and all of the muscles around the scapula or shoulder blades. So, taking a few breaths in and out there and then switching sides. If you'd like more tips on how to stretch your shoulders or improve your Yoga practice, please visit my website. Again, I'm Denise Druce, and we've been talking about scapular stretches.

About the Author

Denise Druce is widely considered one of the leading health and fitness professionals in the state of Utah.